mistletoes, peppermint & confessions
by teatart
Summary: While at a Christmas party, Maya attempts to get a confession out of her stick in the mud boss, Joshua Matthews. But there might be more to his confession than she thought. [a two part joshaya christmas story]
1. the confession

**Working at Matthews Paper Corporation was an experience.**

Maya Hart thought that manufacturing paper would be dull yet there she was at her desk, fired up as usual. The cause? Her boss, Joshua Matthews. Better yet, her piece of shit boss who thought he could do whatever he wanted, Joshua Matthews. It was ridiculous how someone only a few years older than her could let a position of power get to their head.

Sure, his position in the company was hard. Because his father was too old to take care of things he had to step up a lot earlier than intended. Maya was sure that if working at Matthews Paper Co was difficult for her then it was even worse for him. Behind his attractive face was a sea of responsibility, Maya suspected. Josh had it hard and Maya knew this.

Although moments like the one she was in now where she had just shared a yelling match with her boss made her unable to find that sympathetic side that usually took residence in her brain.

In that moment, he was an asshole.

Just who did he think he was yelling at her for trying to help out _his_ niece? "You shouldn't be chatting on the phone, Maya. There are customers waiting on the other line that are higher priority."

 _Honestly._ All she needed to know was if everyone was in work today. She'd been on the phone with Riley for a maximum of five minutes. It wasn't like they were making arrangements to go out or do their nails or something. She just needed a question answered and Maya was available to talk.

Call her crazy, but she didn't see what he was making a fuss about.

"If you squeeze your pen any harder, it'll explode." An amused voice said from the entrance to her cubicle. Maya glanced up to find one of her co-workers, Isadora Smackle watching her tentatively. She followed her gaze and realized that in her blind rage, she had began to squeeze the life out of her pen. It was the good one too. Her grandmother bought it for her when she heard that she had an office job.

"You don't really work in a cubicle unless you have a fancy pen." She had said wisely. Maya never remembered why her grandmother had thought this but it didn't keep her from cherishing it. Or in this case, strangling it.

"Have a run in with the boss again?" Isadora asked though Maya was 99.9 percent sure she knew the answer already. Anyone in their office with ears knew that the two argued constantly. Josh was too uptight to let little things go and Maya was too headstrong to just take a lecture lightly.

"I'd rather not get into it."

She chuckled before dropping a forest green letter on her desk. Maya's eyes shifted from Isadora to the letter that her name scribbled across the front in neat dainty handwriting. What the hell?

Confused yet curious, Maya ripped open the letter that contained a card obnoxiously covered in Christmas things. Holly, mistletoe and even an actual candy cane taped to the front to add extra cheesiness. Before Maya even opened the card to see what it was she knew who it was from.

She opened it and inside, written in the same handwriting as the envelope was an invitation to a party the following night.

An office party.

Riley couldn't be serious. Office parties were weird and there was no way in hell she was going to be around Joshua Matthews voluntarily. She lifted her head to ask Isadora if the party was mandatory but her small colleague had already left.

Anyway, Maya thought before taking the candy cane off and promptly throwing the invitation in the trash, she wasn't going.

* * *

She hated how all it took for Riley to convince Maya to go was a ten minute phone call.

"It will be fun." She said. "You love parties, what's the big deal?" She said. "I promise there will be so many other people from the office you can talk to that you won't even notice my uncle." She said. The more Maya thought about it the sadder she it became that he was making her miss out on possibly a fun night out. So she came to the resolution in her shabby one bedroom apartment that she wasn't going to let Joshua Matthews run her life.

He may have power over her at work but not for every aspect of her life, she was her own person and she was going to enjoy herself. And look damn good while doing so.

{~}

Riley's party was fun. The girl had put in hours of effort to make sure that it was and wouldn't allow anyone to sit on her couch and mope. Which was why Maya found herself trying to cling on to some sort of conversation with Dave, the coffee guy. She didn't like referring to him in that sense but in the six months that Maya has worked with Matthews Paper Co, she's never heard Dave say anything other than, "What kind of coffee would you like?"

Being in an actual conversation with him outside of his coffee running day job felt weird. Not because she didn't know him personally but it just seemed like Dave didn't really enjoy casual conversation. He would start a sentence and then slowly drift from what he was saying and leave her hanging. At first, it was endearing because sweet ol' Dave was nervous about talking to people outside of work.

Maya got that. Seeing people outside of work felt weird for her too.

So when Dave started drifting for the sixth time that night, Maya's mind followed.

She let her thoughts venture and she imagined Dave having a strong voice followed with strong opinions. She imagined him a few inches taller with a sharper jaw line. Black hair instead of brown hair and infuriating blue eyes that made her giddy. It was at that moment where she realized _who_ she was imagining Dave to be.

She needed air. And possibly one of the fancy fruit drinks Riley was making everyone grab on their way into her apartment.

[~]

Getting air seemed like such a good, fool proof idea. It was for about two seconds until she realized there was someone outside. The very person that seemed to consume her thoughts the moment she stepped away from Dave. It was that very person that she hadn't seen throughout the two hours she was at Riley's party. She contemplated going back inside, she wasn't dressed properly to be standing outside in the cold, she thought. That seemed like a valid excuse should he see her.

Yet when he turned around to look at her by the door, all she could say was, "You smoke?" Josh glanced down at his lit cigarette like he just realized it was there and smiled wryly.

"Only when I need a distraction."

Leave. Leave. Leave. Her mind told her but she only stepped further outside, even closed the door. Something in her didn't want to step away from the Joshua Matthews that didn't look so polished and put together. Instead she joined him by the railing and leaned against her back facing the door while he faced towards the city.

"What could you possibly need a distraction from? The thousands of dollars you earn a year?" She joked and he cracked a smile before eyeing her up and down. For a moment, she almost believed he was checking her out.

"I don't think I should answer that." Then he took another drag of his cigarette. It was alarming how she managed to find his small action attractive. She considered blaming the three fruit drinks she had grabbed off the tray Riley had set aside in her kitchen. Maya also blamed the fruit drink for her sudden curiosity as to what was making Josh break composure and smoke.

What could possibly break the cold exterior that he wore endlessly?

"Oh c'mon. I won't laugh. Is it because someone moved one of the pictures in your office an inch over? No one pegged you as the type for symmetry but I've known you a little longer than everyone else." She didn't acknowledge much how being in Riley's life from such an early age also meant meeting Josh at an early age. A time where Josh didn't constantly have a stick up his ass.

He breathed a laugh before fully turning to her. A piece of black hair curled over his brow in the process and Maya clenched her fist to keep from moving it back.

"If you know me so well then guess what's got me so distracted."

"If I get it right, you'll tell me?"

"Sure." Was his noncommittal answer but Maya took it. She was too buzzed to try and scheme her way around it anyway. Her thoughts had to focus on what could be bothering Josh. Surely, it wasn't work. Could it be...

"Family?" It sounded plausible. There was so many of them that Maya could see someone getting overwhelmed and needing a nicotine distraction.

"Nope." He said before taking another drag. She tried not to let her disappointment discourage her from continuing on. Family was off the list, so that just left...

"Friends?"

"Wrong again. You sure you know me, Hart?"

Resisting the urge to slap him, she flipped him off instead and continued to think. What other aspect of a person's life could stress them out? Friends and family were the basis of most things. It made sense that those things bothered him. If she was a rich young guy, what would bother her besides family and friends? A thought instantly came to mind but a sudden fear to voice it came over her.

Apparently, her poker face isn't nearly as good as she remembered it to be. "You thought of something. Spit it out, you might be right." For some reason she didn't want to be. The thought of Josh thinking about some woman in a special light seemed to bother her more than she was willing to admit.

Somewhere in her mind was reassuring her though. If she'd been wrong the past two times, why would she be right this time?

"Girl?"

He stayed silent and for a moment she thought she'd been wrong. Why would Josh let some girl get under his skin so easily? This was Josh, after all. He probably needed a distraction from how luxurious his life was. Then as he lifted the cigarette to his lips, she saw him nod his head.

"What's her name?"

"Don't worry about it."

"What? You make me go through the trouble of guessing and now you won't even tell me? That's bullshit."

He shrugged and turned back towards the city, "That's life. Maybe I'm not in the mood to talk about my love life." Love life? Was he already involved with this girl? How long have they been together? More importantly, why did she want to know so bad? Maya turned to face the city as well, hoping all the bright lights will help take the thoughts of Josh and a random girl being together.

The two stood in silence for a few minutes until Maya's mind wouldn't shut up.

"How long have you known her?"

"A few years. Someone from my family has been friends with her for a while." He said before flicking the rest of his cigarette into one of Riley's plants. If she wasn't too busy trying to analyze the Matthews family and all of their friends, she probably would've told him off. Then probably gone and snitched to Riley.

"Oh," She answered softly, "Do you really like her?" She shouldn't have asked. Why on earth would she want to know? Just the thought of him and that mystery girl was making her uncomfortable and now she was asking for specific details? She needed to leave. She needed to step away from the conversation before it got messy. She needed to tell him that she didn't want to hear anything about him and the girl he loved.

Yet the thought of looking in his direction intimidated the crap out of her, so she stayed in her spot staring at the view of the city. She even had a view of people walking in the night, people who didn't have to worry about hearing intimate details from their boss.

"I don't know. I feel like recently she just won't get out of my head. She's loud, outspoken and has a knack for driving me crazy. And every time we get really into an argument, I try my hardest to not kiss away all the insults I know she wants to throw at me. She's the most interesting and unique person I know. I can't help but love everything about her. She's witty, opinionated and has these _eyes_ that just...get me," He took a breath before landing the final blow, "It doesn't help that she's best friends with my niece."

Finally, she couldn't help but look at him and she turned to find him already looking back at her. The girl he couldn't stop thinking about was...her? Maya searched his face for any sign of lying or joking but he seemed serious. That seemed even scarier than the thought of him pranking her.

Before she could voice any of her running thoughts, the balcony door slammed open and Riley stood there looking relieved. Just like that, their moment was over and Maya could breathe again.

"Thank god I found you. Zay said he needs help bringing the keg into the apartment. Could you go help him?"

Something seemed to come back to Josh too because he blinked and seemed to _just_ realize where he was. He ran a hand through his hair, scraping up the loose strand and shot a bright smile at his niece.

"No problem, Riley." No acknowledgement to Maya or that he just confessed to loving everything about her. No acknowledgement that he's thought about kissing her every time they argue. He just walked past his Riley in the doorway and went on his merry way. Like he didn't just screw everything up.

"You okay, peaches?" Riley asked from the doorway.

Not even close.


	2. the aftermath

**Christmas at the Matthews hadn't seemed to be going her way.**

When she got there an hour before Riley told her to, she thought it'd be nice. She hadn't seen Cory and Topanga since they got her the job at the paper company and she felt like it's been ages since she's seen Auggie too.

For the first hour where it was just the five of them, it was nice. It reminded her of why she loved coming to their house so much whether it was on Christmas Day or a casual Thursday, the Matthews were always welcoming. The comforting feeling that engulfed her when she stepped into their home almost took her mind off the one thing that has consumed it for the past few days.

Joshua Matthews.

No matter how many times she tried to forget that night, it wouldn't leave her. All she could think of were how intense his eyes were on her after he confessed and how blindsided she was right after. He managed to slip past her after bringing the keg in with Zay so she never had a chance to confront him at the party. Then he had a business meeting across the city so there was no time to confront him at work. Now that she stood somewhere that she knew he'd be, she wasn't sure _why_ she wanted to confront him so badly.

Nothing came to mind when she thought of being face to face with him again.

Would she thank him for confessing that he loved everything about her? They've argued so often that Maya couldn't stand to be around him and in one night that's all seemed to change.

Now what were they?

Maya only had that hour to contemplate the burning question before Josh waltzed through the door with a bright smile on his face. When it was time to greet everyone, she decided it would be a good idea to be at the far end of where everyone stood at the door. It was a dumb decision really because that meant that he got to say hello to her last.

She hoped that he would skip over her or have a sudden need to go to the bathroom or something. Anything that prevented the two of them from being face to face again.

But he continued to surprise her.

After mussing Auggie's hair, he came to stand in front of her, his smile unwavering. A simple hello would have sufficed at that point because her heart was already pounding. Instead he pulled her in for a one arm hug and whispered in her ear, "Meet me out front in ten minutes." Without waiting for a nod or even a verbal response from her, he moved into the kitchen to try and sneak any food Topanga left out.

* * *

Ten minutes passed by a lot quicker than she expected.

She somehow managed to excuse herself from the gathering without question. She thanked God that the only people who asked her where she was going were too drunk to go into further questioning.

Maya waited outside for him for probably two minutes that felt shorter. Answers to his possible questions came to mind and she mentally prepared herself for anything he'd try to throw at her again.

Like a surprise kiss when he saw her for example.

When Josh eventually did come outside, the kiss didn't happen and she didn't know if she felt relieved or disappointed. Instead he stood in front of her on the sidewalk, looking very serious.

"We need to talk, Maya." He said lowly. It was in a similar tone he used when he confessed and Maya suddenly realized how real this confrontation was with him. He could confess again. The thought terrified her so much that she thought their little talk outside would go a little quicker if she just played stupid.

"A talk? About what?" Playing stupid didn't sound like a bad last minute decision in her head. It made their confrontation a little more bearable and it made her mind go at a medium pace.

He lifted a questioning brow at her before clarifying, "The other night." Her playing stupid act was really short lived. Now she had to think of something better to do in order to divert him from bringing up the other night.

Having him stand so close to her didn't help because it made her mind wander to when he confessed too. So, she shut her eyes in hopes that that'll somehow bring an idea to her head to solve this incredibly difficult situation.

Maya wasn't sure how long she stayed with her eyes closed standing outside with him, but it seemed enough for him to sigh defeatedly.

"Look Maya, I wasn't in the right mindset that day on the balcony, I drank some of those fruit things Riley made and tried to make my mind shut up. But then you came outside ironically enough and started questioning me about the thing that was bothering me so I told you without really realizing what I just told you. So I'm sorry about telling you so suddenly."

She opened her eyes just in time for her to catch his sad eyes glance at then move away. Was that it? Were they done? Without another pre planned decision, Maya spun around and called out to him.

"So you're just gonna walk away again?"

He stopped but didn't turn to face her. Panic had already set in so she took what she could get.

"It wasn't enough for you to completely leave me hanging at Riley's party but on Christmas too. But now you leave me hanging after apologizing for telling me you loved me but only because you were drunk." Her last resort had apparently been provoking him. The words wouldn't stop and she only realized how well she riled him up when he strode over to her angrily.

"Me leave _you_ hanging? I tried talking to you out here and act like adults but you were pretending you didn't know what I was talking about." He stood in front of her now like he had before and he looked livid.

"Maybe I didn't know what you were talking about. As far as I knew before that night, you hated me. Now suddenly your feelings changed?"

His eyes searched her face before he shook his head. "You're amazing, Hart. Did you not hear a word I said on that balcony?"

"Of course I heard what you said on the balcony, Josh. I can't get any of it out of my head. But I just don't get how you can go one moment despising someone and frequently pick fights with them then the next moment you love everything about them? That doesn't make sense!" She shouted at him because somehow while riling him up he'd managed to rile her up too. Her hands were balled in fists and she couldn't seem to calm herself down no matter how much she tried.

Like getting her angry was a fun pass time, he rolled his eyes and laughed wryly, "You've got to be kidding me, Maya. Are you too busy being wrapped in what you think we are that you haven't realized how long I've been in love with you?"

"What are you talking about?" Maya answered more softly than intended. Her change of tone struck something in him too and he closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, it was like they were back on the balcony when he confessed to her.

"It was when you first started working for me and we got into our first argument. No one had really gotten under my skin so easily. So because I was frustrated that you got to me without trying, I started to nitpick everything you did at work. At first it was just to get you back but then it started to just be something I wanted to do because I wanted to see you. It took a long time for me to admit to myself that being around you made me happy."

Maya took a moment to let his second confession sink in. Then her hands were cupping his face and her lips were on his. He stayed frozen in his place for a second before his arms snaked around her waist and pulled her closer to him. He returned her kiss slower than she had initiated it. Josh took his time kissing her, savoring the moment before it ended.

To Maya the moment _did_ end much too soon. Josh had been the one to pull away although he still kept her in his arms.

"You make me happy too, Josh. It just took me a little longer to admit to...well, both of us actually." She said after he pressed his forehead against hers. Maya looked at him and saw the brightest grin curve up his lips. She hadn't realized how contagious it was until she felt herself smiling back at him.

The sound of sleigh bells disrupted the peaceful silence that engulfed them though it only seemed to improve Josh's mood. He moved them closer to each other until she could feel his breath hit her cheek.

"Merry Christmas, Maya." He whispered before stealing a kiss.

"Merry Christmas, Josh."

* * *

 **a|n - thank you to everyone who reviewed and followed this story! merry christmas x**


End file.
